‘Mummy Bandit’ who robbed Newport Beach bank sentenced to 19 years

A bank robber known as the “Mummy Bandit” was sentenced Thursday to 19 years in prison.

Jaime Reyes Torres, 58, of Santa Ana, was convicted of five counts of second-degree robbery with enhancements for use of a firearm related to a May 24, 2008 hold-up at a Wells Fargo in Newport Beach.

The robber, his face covered by white cloth, sunglasses and a black hat, entered the bank branch at 21103 Newport Drive around 2:30 p.m. and pointed a blue steel semi-automatic handgun at a teller.

Torres fled with more than $50,000 in cash in a black bag. As he fled, his baseball hat fell off, and investigators were able to pull DNA from the cap that they tied to Torres.

Torres’ distinctive face-covering led the FBI to nickname him the Mummy Bandit. According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Torres’ was previously convicted of carrying out a series of six bank robberies in 1991 and 1992 using a similar disguise.

“This serial bank robber is once again behind bars as a result of DNA and he will stay there for a significant amount of time,” said District Attorney Todd Spitzer in a written statement.

A jury convicted Torres in 2010. Since then, his sentencing was repeatedly delayed while he remained in county lockup.